Report: Battlefield 3 not coming to Steam, says retailer

Financial firm Baird recently met with GameStop, and says that in the meeting executives claimed Battlefield 3 wouldn't be sold through Steam.

Battlefield 3 won't be coming to Steam, according to a financial firm that recently met with GameStop. Develop reports that the brick-and-mortar giant recently met with the financial research firm Baird, and subsequently claimed in a report: "The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam." Baird says that the statement came directly from GameStop executives, but GameStop itself hasn't offered an official comment.

The Baird report cites Steam's dominance and "insistence on users downloading the Steam client application" as reasons that publishers might want to look into other digital distribution partners.

It's worth keeping in mind that this information is second-hand from Baird. Plus, as GameStop is positioning itself as a competitor to Steam, it makes sense to paint itself in the best possible light. Still, there would be no value to making a such a claim and being proven wrong months later, and a (quickly pulled) EA page left Steam off its list of Battlefield 3 digital retailers. Shacknews has contacted both EA and Valve for comment.

Steve Watts

Editor-In-Chief

Steve Watts' youthful memories are are a blur of pixels, princesses, castles, and Mega Busters. After writing about games as a pastime for years, he got his first shot at a paid gig at 1UP. He's freelanced for several sites since then, and found a friendly home at Shacknews. His editorial duties include news, reviews, features, and lunatic ravings. He lives in the Baltimore-Washington area with his shockingly understanding wife.